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Yes, he was there, and everything checked out ok after he installed it and recharged the system. I just wanted to know how long it should reasonably take for the refrigerant line to get cold when recharged with warm refrigerant. The refrigerant has to get cold prior to cooling the house down, correct?

You should start feeling cool air pretty quickly now. Are you concerned you are not feeling cool air after 5-7 minutes? Everything is heated up after for the time being, ductwork, drywall, sticks of furniture...everything. Give it some time.

No, I'm concerned that the refrigerant line from the outside unit to the air handler in the attic is not getting very cold yet.

Prior to the compressor failure, the refrigerant line would be very cold to the touch and have a lot of condensation on it. It has been on for approximately 2 hours since the tech left, and it's still only cool to the touch at this point.

I realize the air in the house will take some time as it heated up all day, but the refrigerant should be getting cool by now, right?

No, I'm concerned that the refrigerant line from the outside unit to the air handler in the attic is not getting very cold yet.

Prior to the compressor failure, the refrigerant line would be very cold to the touch and have a lot of condensation on it. It has been on for approximately 2 hours since the tech left, and it's still only cool to the touch at this point.

I realize the air in the house will take some time as it heated up all day, but the refrigerant should be getting cool by now, right?

Forget about that line and tell me how cold the air is coming out of your registers. How long has the unit been running....how much has the temperature dropped since then??

It's perfectly normal for a house that's heated up (drywall, ducts and all) to get the temp down...even 2 degrees over 2 hours!

Tomorrow, if you are still in doubt, drop by your local Radio Shack and buy one of those cheap indoor/outdoor digital thermometers (like I have) and use the probe to check the temp coming out of your register. After an hour of two, it should be 17-20 degrees below that particular rooms ambient temperature.

That's all I can suggest. Go from there.
Even my small condo takes awhile for my AC to cool down my condo. The AC is busy trying to cool down everything that has heated up. That means everything from the drywall to your pots and pans.

Actually with those temperatures, that line should be sweating. You have a large load of heat you are trying to remove from that house. While Caslon is right about it taking some time to do this....you should be falling a little faster than you are. I would have that installer back ASAP and have him set up the unit properly. Sounds to me like he has it undercharged.

Do you know if he used nitrogen to pressure check that system after the compressor install? Did he use a micron gauge when he pulled his vacuum? Did he check super heat and sub cool when properly charging the unit?

Actually with those temperatures, that line should be sweating. You have a large load of heat you are trying to remove from that house. While Caslon is right about it taking some time to do this....you should be falling a little faster than you are. I would have that installer back ASAP and have him set up the unit properly. Sounds to me like he has it undercharged.

Do you know if he used nitrogen to pressure check that system after the compressor install? Did he use a micron gauge when he pulled his vacuum? Did he check super heat and sub cool when properly charging the unit?

I know that he used nitrogen and did a pressure check at 150 psi and then charged the refrigerant. I would've thought the line would be sweating at this point as well, and that was the point of my original question. I realize the house is hot and will take time to cool down, but I thought the refrigerant line would be sweating by now.